Bound for a thousand years

Spiritual Jew

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I just have one question for those who don't think the thousand years is literal reign. Is Isaiah 65:20 also symbolic then? How so?
Yes, it has to be, because John made it abundantly clear that there will be no more death when the new heavens and new earth are ushered in (Rev 21:4).

How is it symbolic? I believe that Isaiah wrote about eternity in a way that his original readers could understand. Remember, in Old Testament times the concept of eternal life wasn't something they really thought about or could grasp back then. Only when Christ came to die for the sins of the world to provide the opportunity of eternal life did that become a concept that people started to really think about and learn about and start to understand. So, the undeniably strange wording of Isaiah 65:20 (a 100 year old child?) is just symbolic for people living forever on the new earth.

The alternative to seeing Isaiah 65:20 as being symbolic is to believe that Isaiah and John contradicted each other regarding the new heavens and new earth. That's not a good alternative.
 
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Erik Nelson

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Christianity over-came the pagan Roman empire (= Beast) of the Caesars (= heads of the Beast, e.g. Nero = 666 = 6th head)

The Christian Byzantine empire lasted just about exactly 1000.0 years, and its geographic extent from the "new Rome" of Constantinople -- agrees remarkably precisely with the dimensions of the New Jerusalem:

OIP.3ppRUhRsmttBH4-8Xz8VRAHaFL


The fall of Constantinople, after just about exactly 1000.0 years, with the "Renaissance" and the growing fascination with pre-Christian pagan motifs (e.g. Classical Greek & Roman Pantheons, Druidry, so on)
 
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eclipsenow

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Nope - 1000 is usually symbolic when not actually counting but discussing time or theological concepts. Applying this number literally to history is a mistake. Applying it symbolically is a winner.
 
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Spiritual Jew

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Christianity over-came the pagan Roman empire (= Beast) of the Caesars (= heads of the Beast, e.g. Nero = 666 = 6th head)

The Christian Byzantine empire lasted just about exactly 1000.0 years, and its geographic extent from the "new Rome" of Constantinople -- agrees remarkably precisely with the dimensions of the New Jerusalem:

OIP.3ppRUhRsmttBH4-8Xz8VRAHaFL


The fall of Constantinople, after just about exactly 1000.0 years, with the "Renaissance" and the growing fascination with pre-Christian pagan motifs (e.g. Classical Greek & Roman Pantheons, Druidry, so on)
If this was true then it seems that Satan's "little season" has actually been a big season. How do you reconcile your view with that?
 
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eclipsenow

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Some respectable Amils think there is some future prophecy about a little season that is still to come. As you know, I'm not one of those. I'm with my mate Greg Clarke that basically thinks the Lord could return in 5 seconds or 50,000 years.

John writes that “many antichrists have come”, reminding us that there has been great opposition to Christ ever since he was born (remember how Herod killed all the babies in Bethlehem trying to get to Jesus?). Throughout the whole Bible, we find characters who are ‘anti’ God’s plans—wicked men, foreign kings, false prophets and ‘the beast’ who features in Revelation 13. Even in Deuteronomy, there are warnings about the rise of prophets who lie and preach rebellion against the true God.

But is there going to be one mega-evil ruler who will deceive the world and lead millions astray and do things like brand ‘666’ on their foreheads?

Probably not. There are passages in the Bible which talk about a particular being who is Christ’s foe (e.g., “the man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2 or the dragon of Revelation 12-13 who is identified as the Devil). But this kind of symbolic language is used to describe an attitude or spirit of evil rather than a single evil person. The fact that some parts of Scripture bring ultimate evil to a head by using an individual character to identify it probably says more about how dramatic literature operates than it does about predicting history.

The worst thing about antichrists is that they have come from within the church! The apostle John wrote that they “went out from us, but they did not really belong to us”. This is what antichrists do. They get among believers and try to deceive them, persuading them to believe lies and getting people to follow them and their deceptions rather than Jesus and his truth. They teach that Christ did not come in the flesh (1 Jn 4:1-3); they say it doesn’t matter whether you sin or not (1 Jn 1:5-10); and they neglect their Christian brothers and sisters (1 Jn 4:19-21).

According to God’s word, the antichrist might have sat next to you in the church pew. This isn’t a scene from a horror movie; quite the opposite-it is an everyday event. In this final age before Jesus returns, plenty of opponents of Jesus will arise. And they may even be in church, trying to deceive us and lead us into error. But Christians can be confident and at peace, because there will be a day when all ‘antichristness’ will be done away with.

It’s a bit of a waste of time trying to work out whether the antichrist is Boris Yeltsin, the Dalai Lama, Bill Gates or the Pope. It’s just as likely to be your granny or your next door neighbour, if they are promoting lies about our Lord.

Just make sure it isn’t you …

See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)

The devil you know
 
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rwb

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  1. Revelation 20:2
    And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
  2. Revelation 20:3
    And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
WHY A THOUSAND YEARS AND NOT FIVE HUNDRED?

your thoughts please

I don't know if it's possible for anyone to answer the question of why a thousand and not five hundred years? But I do know a thousand years equates to TIME. And according to Scripture once the thousand years should be fulfilled this specific amount of TIME ends. That happens according to Rev 10 when the seventh angel begins to sound the trumpet signaling the mystery of God is finished.

Revelation 10:5-7 (KJV) And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

What is left once the thousand years should be no longer, and the mystery of God should be finished? According to Rev 20 after the thousand years should be fulfilled Satan is loosed for a little season.

Revelation 20:3 (KJV) And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

In order to understand the thousand years, we must learn what is the mystery of God declared to His servants the prophets that is finished when the seventh angel begins to sound that there should be time no longer? The following verses indicate the mystery of God that had been hidden, now revealed is that Gentiles would also be fellow heirs with Jews of faith as the Gospel is proclaimed unto all the nations.

Romans 11:25 (KJV) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Romans 16:25-26 (KJV) Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

Ephesians 3:3-6 (KJV) How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

When we learn when the Gospel is effectively preached, and Gentiles of faith become part of the same body through His Gospel then we understand when the thousand years of TIME fit, and also understand this TIME ends with the beginning of Satan's little season. There is only one logical view for a thousand years. The thousand years symbolizes all TIME given for the Gospel to be sent unto all the earth, and that through it people in all the nations of the earth will believe and by grace through faith become members of the Kingdom of heaven.

To argue that TIME symbolized a thousand years is literally ONE thousand years after the seventh angel begins to sound causes utter confusion and contradiction.

Since the Gospel has been sent unto Gentile nations throughout the world and saving whosoever believes the only satisfactory understanding is that TIME is symbolized by a thousand years is goes from the first advent of Christ to Satan's little season.

Therefore, it is understood the thousand years symbolically represent TIME given the churches throughout the ages to build the Kingdom of heaven by grace through faith as people of all nations hear and believe. When the seventh angel begins to sound, we know TIME for building the Kingdom of heaven by the Gospel proclaimed has ended and Satan is set free for his one last assault against Christ and Christians but instead of success he and his minions will be killed by the fire of God that comes down from heaven.
 
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rwb

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I don't deny the spiritual nature of the kingdom

How can one enter a spiritual kingdom that NOW IS? According to John 3 "ye must be born again". Is this NOW IS spiritual kingdom the one John says has come and whoever believes Christ has passed from death to life?

John 5:24-25 (KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

How do the living pass from death to life by hearing the Word of Christ and believing on Him? Would you deny a spiritual resurrection to life from spiritual death is the way one passes from death to life upon hearing Christ and believing?
 
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rwb

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What does that have to do with a physical kingdom? I'm not talking about a thousand year kingdom since I don't believe in such a thing, I'm talking about a physical kingdom that is everlasting once Jesus bodily returns. And if there are a thousand years after His return, maybe there is, maybe there isn't, but if there is, all it would mean is that it is the first thousand years of the everlasting physical kingdom.

The way we see/understand the manifestation of the kingdom in this age is through eyes of faith. This Kingdom exists in the hearts of man through His Spirit in them by grace through faith alone. The physical Kingdom will not be on this earth, but on the new earth to come. Physical, not through carnal flesh destined to die, but through immortal and incorruptible flesh changed when Christ comes again. The age to come will not be measured by TIME because TIME shall be no more on the new earth that will be eternal. That's how we know TIME given the Gospel to be sent unto all nations of the earth is not a literal ONE thousand years. TIME in this age for building the Kingdom of heaven is symbolized by A thousand years.
 
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rwb

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So is the creation story about the evening and the morning were the first day, ect. "just another one of those symbols. It is not a literal amount of time."

If the creation days are not literal, how do you define the seventh day where it was commanded that man should rest from his labors?
 
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Spiritual Jew

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Some respectable Amils think there is some future prophecy about a little season that is still to come. As you know, I'm not one of those. I'm with my mate Greg Clarke that basically thinks the Lord could return in 5 seconds or 50,000 years.

John writes that “many antichrists have come”, reminding us that there has been great opposition to Christ ever since he was born (remember how Herod killed all the babies in Bethlehem trying to get to Jesus?). Throughout the whole Bible, we find characters who are ‘anti’ God’s plans—wicked men, foreign kings, false prophets and ‘the beast’ who features in Revelation 13. Even in Deuteronomy, there are warnings about the rise of prophets who lie and preach rebellion against the true God.

But is there going to be one mega-evil ruler who will deceive the world and lead millions astray and do things like brand ‘666’ on their foreheads?

Probably not. There are passages in the Bible which talk about a particular being who is Christ’s foe (e.g., “the man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2 or the dragon of Revelation 12-13 who is identified as the Devil). But this kind of symbolic language is used to describe an attitude or spirit of evil rather than a single evil person. The fact that some parts of Scripture bring ultimate evil to a head by using an individual character to identify it probably says more about how dramatic literature operates than it does about predicting history.

The worst thing about antichrists is that they have come from within the church! The apostle John wrote that they “went out from us, but they did not really belong to us”. This is what antichrists do. They get among believers and try to deceive them, persuading them to believe lies and getting people to follow them and their deceptions rather than Jesus and his truth. They teach that Christ did not come in the flesh (1 Jn 4:1-3); they say it doesn’t matter whether you sin or not (1 Jn 1:5-10); and they neglect their Christian brothers and sisters (1 Jn 4:19-21).

According to God’s word, the antichrist might have sat next to you in the church pew. This isn’t a scene from a horror movie; quite the opposite-it is an everyday event. In this final age before Jesus returns, plenty of opponents of Jesus will arise. And they may even be in church, trying to deceive us and lead us into error. But Christians can be confident and at peace, because there will be a day when all ‘antichristness’ will be done away with.

It’s a bit of a waste of time trying to work out whether the antichrist is Boris Yeltsin, the Dalai Lama, Bill Gates or the Pope. It’s just as likely to be your granny or your next door neighbour, if they are promoting lies about our Lord.

Just make sure it isn’t you …

See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)

The devil you know
I don't buy into all the Antichrist stuff at all, but you don't think that Satan's little season, described in Revelation 20:7-9, occurs just before the return of Christ?
 
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Erik Nelson

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If this was true then it seems that Satan's "little season" has actually been a big season. How do you reconcile your view with that?
Yes, if Revelation 20:7 began circa 1500 AD, then it's still been "less than one Biblical Day (= 1000 years)"
 
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Spiritual Jew

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Yes, if Revelation 20:7 began circa 1500 AD, then it's still been "less than one Biblical Day (= 1000 years)"
There is no indication at all that it's talking in those terms rather than about a literally short amount of time. Why would Satan be allowed a long period of time to "deceive the nations" rather than a short amount of time.
 
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eclipsenow

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But I do know a thousand years equates to TIME.
Yes it does!

And according to Scripture once the thousand years should be fulfilled this specific amount of TIME ends.
That's just not how Scripture uses 1000! We've been over this. The moment the Hebrew authors use 1000 in a theological context, something interesting happens. Investigate the following theological statements about God and nature, God and his people, or even God and time. They're ALL symbolic!

Psalm 50: "I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."

= Is the literal futurist really going to argue that God only owns a thousand hills? What about the other million or so on Earth?

Deuteronomy 1:11 - "11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!"

= God was only going to grow his people a thousand times - from the literal number of people standing before Moses that day? What happened to more than the stars in the sky and grains of sand on a beach?

Psalm 91:7 - "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you."

= Is it a thousand or ten-thousand? Is it a gazillion or ten gazillion?

Isaiah 60:22 - "The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation."

= You mean there are limits on God's kingdom - it will ONLY grow 1000 times in size from Isaiah's lifetime?

Judges 15:16 - "Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”

= I love this one - as I've been a soldier. The image of a Sampson having a bookkeeper counting his kills is just hilarious. "997, 998, 999, 1000 - that's it Sampson! You're done for the day! Stand down Sampson - I'm writing this down!"

Job 9:3 - "Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand."

= Could Job's 'friends' actually answer his suffering 1 time in a thousand, or is the emphasis of this story that they had NO answers - only God had the authority to answer Job (and decided not to tell Job the real reason anyway. Job was just to trust God anyway, without an answer!)

GOD AND TIME SEEMS TO ALWAYS BE SYMBOLIC:-

Deuteronomy 7:9 - "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

= Is the literal futurist really bold enough to insist God is only faithful for a thousand generations? A generation was 40 years - so in 40,000 years God is unfaithful!!!???

Psalm 105:8 - "He remembers his covenant FOREVER, the promise he made, for a THOUSAND generations"

= Well, which is it? Forever, or a thousand generations / 40,000 years?

Psalms 84:10 - "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."

= Is one day with God’s people better than 1000 literal days or 2.7 years, or is this a qualitative assessment of how it is better to just invest your time with God? Is this verse actually equating ANY period of time with the wicked as beneficial to you?

Other consequences
Revelation 20 has divided Christians and warped how they read the bible - but it’s meant to be a short image of our safety in Christ during these 'gazillion years' between the Lord's Resurrection and his Return. Yet futurist end-timers have turned it into the thin edge of the wedge that sometimes breaks apart how the Old and New Covenants fit together - and sometimes even what the gospel means!

Revelation is just not a future-history as John says in Chapter 1 that this stuff was about to start “soon”, the time was “near”, he “shares in their sufferings” (literally - tribulations!) and he wants them to “take his message to heart”. That means obey it. It’s hard to OBEY a message that is not even to or about you - but about what happens in 2000 years. Most futurists have not thought about these points.

What’s worse is it futurism makes the Apostle John out to be callous and indifferent to the suffering of the church in his time. If he is not writing to them and about them, but about some so-called “Great Tribulation” way off in the future, then John is in effect saying “You think you've got problems - wait till you see what happens in 2000 years!” It’s just not true to the book - he’s dressing up the events of the time in apocalyptic language and reminding them to stay faithful because one day the Lord will return. That’s it!
 
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Original Happy Camper

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If the creation days are not literal, how do you define the seventh day where it was commanded that man should rest from his labors?

it is a literal time of 24 hours from evening to evening
 
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  1. Revelation 20:2
    And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
  2. Revelation 20:3
    And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
WHY A THOUSAND YEARS AND NOT FIVE HUNDRED?

your thoughts please
Because the book of Revelation is largely symbolic, it is not a literal thousand years. The devil is presently bound and will remain so until the Church Age is complete. This is to enable the Gospel to go out into all the world and for sinners to be converted to Christ. If the devil was not bound, he would be able to much more to hinder the Gospel and make it near impossible for anyone to be saved. But there will come a time when he will be released for a season. This will happen when the time of grace will be over and no more sinners will be saved. Then he will be rampant in the world and unless the days are shorten, no humans will actually survive. But during that time there will be a remnant in Israel who will be protected and put out of reach of the devil, so that when Jesus returns there will be an Israel for Him to return to.
 
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I don't know if it's possible for anyone to answer the question of why a thousand and not five hundred years? But I do know a thousand years equates to TIME. And according to Scripture once the thousand years should be fulfilled this specific amount of TIME ends. That happens according to Rev 10 when the seventh angel begins to sound the trumpet signaling the mystery of God is finished.

Revelation 10:5-7 (KJV) And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

What is left once the thousand years should be no longer, and the mystery of God should be finished? According to Rev 20 after the thousand years should be fulfilled Satan is loosed for a little season.

Revelation 20:3 (KJV) And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

In order to understand the thousand years, we must learn what is the mystery of God declared to His servants the prophets that is finished when the seventh angel begins to sound that there should be time no longer? The following verses indicate the mystery of God that had been hidden, now revealed is that Gentiles would also be fellow heirs with Jews of faith as the Gospel is proclaimed unto all the nations.

Romans 11:25 (KJV) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Romans 16:25-26 (KJV) Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

Ephesians 3:3-6 (KJV) How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

When we learn when the Gospel is effectively preached, and Gentiles of faith become part of the same body through His Gospel then we understand when the thousand years of TIME fit, and also understand this TIME ends with the beginning of Satan's little season. There is only one logical view for a thousand years. The thousand years symbolizes all TIME given for the Gospel to be sent unto all the earth, and that through it people in all the nations of the earth will believe and by grace through faith become members of the Kingdom of heaven.

To argue that TIME symbolized a thousand years is literally ONE thousand years after the seventh angel begins to sound causes utter confusion and contradiction.

Since the Gospel has been sent unto Gentile nations throughout the world and saving whosoever believes the only satisfactory understanding is that TIME is symbolized by a thousand years is goes from the first advent of Christ to Satan's little season.

Therefore, it is understood the thousand years symbolically represent TIME given the churches throughout the ages to build the Kingdom of heaven by grace through faith as people of all nations hear and believe. When the seventh angel begins to sound, we know TIME for building the Kingdom of heaven by the Gospel proclaimed has ended and Satan is set free for his one last assault against Christ and Christians but instead of success he and his minions will be killed by the fire of God that comes down from heaven.

The 1000 years are literal per these verses just as the days of creation are literal to say other wise is to deny the Word of GOD INMHO
2 Peter 3:8
King James Version

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
 
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Because the book of Revelation is largely symbolic, it is not a literal thousand years. The devil is presently bound and will remain so until the Church Age is complete. This is to enable the Gospel to go out into all the world and for sinners to be converted to Christ. If the devil was not bound, he would be able to much more to hinder the Gospel and make it near impossible for anyone to be saved. But there will come a time when he will be released for a season. This will happen when the time of grace will be over and no more sinners will be saved. Then he will be rampant in the world and unless the days are shorten, no humans will actually survive. But during that time there will be a remnant in Israel who will be protected and put out of reach of the devil, so that when Jesus returns there will be an Israel for Him to return to.

Your error is not understanding that after the cross Isreal is not a literal nation or physical land but spiritual

hen the Jewish nation rejected the Messiah, the Gospel was spread to all nations. All who believe in the name of Jesus can now become the spiritual descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3:16, 29; Romans 4:16; 9:3-8).

New Covenant Israel
 
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eclipsenow

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it is a literal time of 24 hours from evening to evening
The opening of the bible is almost as symbolic as the close.
Reading Genesis is more like reading Shakespeare than an engineering manual or literal history. There’s a false antagonism here. We don’t have a bad reaction to Shakespeare's metaphors in the line - "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"

We don’t turn around and complain "What nonsense! There's no way any truth is being conveyed in this nonsense because Juliet is obviously not a giant ball of fusing hydrogen millions and millions of miles across!" That would be ridiculous. That would be misunderstanding the genre of the text, reading the poetic as literal. Sometimes poetry is the best genre to explain certain truths, like love or dramatic theology!

Dr John Dickson - with a Phd in history as well as degrees in theology - unpacks Genesis:

"In Genesis 1, multiples of seven appear in extraordinary ways. For ancient readers, who were accustomed to taking notice of such things, these multiples of seven conveyed a powerful message. Seven was the divine number, the number of goodness and perfection. Its omnipresence in the opening chapter of the Bible makes an unmistakable point about the origin and nature of the universe itself. Consider the following: The first sentence of Genesis 1 consists of seven Hebrew words. Instantly, the ancient reader’s attention is focused;

The second sentence contains exactly fourteen words. A pattern is developing;

The word ‘earth’—one half of the created sphere—appears in the chapter 21 times;

The word ‘heaven’—the other half of the created sphere—also appears 21 times.

‘God’, the lead actor, is mentioned exactly 35 times.

The refrain ‘and it was so,’ which concludes each creative act, occurs exactly seven times;

The summary statement ‘God saw that it was good’ also occurs seven times;

It hardly needs to be pointed out that the whole account is structured around seven scenes or seven days of the week.

The artistry of the chapter is stunning and, to ancient readers, unmistakable. It casts the creation as a work of art, sharing in the perfection of God and deriving from him. My point is obvious: short of including a prescript for the benefit of modern readers the original author could hardly have made it clearer that his message is being conveyed through literary rather than prosaic means. What we find in Genesis 1 is not exactly poetry of the type we find in the biblical book of Psalms but nor is it recognizable as simple prose. It is a rhythmic, symbolically-charged inventory of divine commands." The genre of Genesis 1: an historical approach - Centre for Public Christianity More at his podcast. Six Days - Undeceptions
 
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eclipsenow

God cares about his creation as well as us.
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Because the book of Revelation is largely symbolic, it is not a literal thousand years. The devil is presently bound and will remain so until the Church Age is complete. This is to enable the Gospel to go out into all the world and for sinners to be converted to Christ. If the devil was not bound, he would be able to much more to hinder the Gospel and make it near impossible for anyone to be saved. But there will come a time when he will be released for a season. This will happen when the time of grace will be over and no more sinners will be saved. Then he will be rampant in the world and unless the days are shorten, no humans will actually survive. But during that time there will be a remnant in Israel who will be protected and put out of reach of the devil, so that when Jesus returns there will be an Israel for Him to return to.
I'm with you on the devil being bound now, just as he is also 'free' in that he is behind antichrist governments that we see in North Korea or China or some Muslim countries. That is, both Revelation 13 and 20 are operating now - because these are all symbolic snapshots of the current age between Jesus resurrection and return.
 
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The opening of the bible is almost as symbolic as the close.
Reading Genesis is more like reading Shakespeare than an engineering manual or literal history. There’s a false antagonism here. We don’t have a bad reaction to Shakespeare's metaphors in the line - "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"

I am sorry that you do not beleive the Word of GOD

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (this day is after the sun, the moon and the earth were completed)

NO symbolism in the above verses and GOD spoke them


Matthew 4:4 King James Version

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
 
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